How do you repair a windshield washer fluid leak on a 2003 Volkswagen Passat when the leak is inside the drivers side fenderwell?

Answer 1

I've just tackled this problem on my son's 2004 Passat 4 motion wagen. I've lifted the left front, blocked it and removed the wheel. I next removed the wheel well liner, (need a Torx T15 and large flat blade screw driver for this) The remoavl of the liner is sticky, try prying out from back to front. Once this is removed, you can see the bottom part of the washer fluid reservoir, the level alarm and the fluid pump. Carefully fill the reservoir (no spills as it'll make find the leak harder. Our leak was in the pump, so needs to be removed. Get a foam ear plug (or similar) to put into the reservoir opening when you pull out the pump. 1/. disconnect the hoses; rotate the split clips on the hose connection elblows until you can see the circumferential slot in the gap of the clip, then rotate and wiggle the elbows off the pump. 2/. disconnect the electrical harness, press down the lever on the front side and wiggle/pull off 3/. The pump is inserted into the reservoir through a rubber grommet seal, so rotate/wiggle/pull the pump assembly in the mounting bracket, aligning the two outlets into the manifold into the opening in the mounting bracket. Then wiggle/pull the pump through that opening. Before you do that, though, prepare the ear plug (rolled tight) to inser into the hole when the pump comes free (otherwise, you lose all the fluid and have mess on the floor in front of you) 4/. The leak was in the manifold, so I thought that I'd attempt fixing the leak rather than replacing the whole pump for $50. The manifold can be removed by simply pulling it off the two outlets of the pump, not which side is whit and which is black, your hose elbows are coordinated to this too. 5/. the manifold can be opened by freeing the clip on the outside and pull/wiggle the two halves apart. The seal appears to be just a compression of the soft rubber diaphragm and a little freezing could have easily sprung that snugness. I then used a sealing compound around the sealing areas on both sides of the diaphragm (careful not to get any amount inside the chambers). Assembly is the reverse. Good luck.